SPECIAL EXPANDED EDITION
BY DC CUEVA
BY DC CUEVA
Well, it's both a new week and a new season as spring has arrived now officially wherever you are. But before we proceed into a new week in the MTV Trifecta with new episodes tomorrow and a new series debuting the night after, we have this special, expanded edition of the WRAP to review what was a very entertaining week.Last week on The Challenge Invasion, we saw the Champions regain their footing in evening the totals of their bank accounts to $10,000 in the week's challenge where we saw Bananas do it yet again to keep himself out of elimination. And in that Fortress, we saw Cara Maria add to her storied elimination career and Darrell prove why he is a four-time champion, while we also saw Ashley and Hunter's relationship reach some doubts, while the relationship that is Zach and Jenna goes to another level before it reaches a premature end. And, of course, there's that finale and reunion of Season 5 of Are You The One? that's still hard to get out of our minds five days after that we pretty much don't need any more explanation in this lead-in.
Coming up, we'll again break from format and focus most of our WRAP to that final act in the Caribbean, what happened in the season's homestretch and break down what happened from the Strategy Room, including some thoughts from a past alum who watched last week's chaotic finale and some of the related happenings following the endgame of the finale...our Challenge wraps will return next week with a review of last week's episode included. Along with poll results and fantasy scoring, we'll also look at two couples being given a Second Chance, shall we say. Join us there next.
THINGS TO KNOW
AYTO Season 5 - The Homestretch
♥ CAROLINA & HAYDEN: We begin our review of the homestretch with what turns out to be the only other perfect match in the house. For a house that would ultimately come short, one of their bright spots in where the group would play this game was right was with Carolina and Hayden. After Week 2 where he & Gianna were a Truth Booth no-match and where the house blacked out, the two sat together at Matchup, even when the Midwesterners were still cuddling up. It was after the halfway point that Hayden realized that he was not playing this game right and made a move for Carolina for the sake of this game - and a little bit more, and in Week 8 they were voted into the Truth Booth. The matchmakers got it right and became those second visitors to the Fantasy Suites.
♥ NON MATCHES & TRIANGLES: Something that was plaguing the group all season long was non-matches deciding to stay together rather than sucking it up, seeing other people and giving the house a chance to win. Aside from the Gianna/Hayden/Carolina love triangle, there was Andre and Taylor, Ozzy being in a love triangle with Hannah and Alicia - the one with the former being most notable, and Joey in the middle of Casandra's and Hannah's attention. This whole game is too twisted that it's even harder for me to keep up, but most everyone played this game a bit differently than we saw in previous seasons and it was one of the factors in the game's final outcome.
♥ TRUTH BOOTH TRADES: When the twist of the house being given the option to trade in a Truth Booth result for money was introduced, it was a game-changer in that they can swap out what the house felt were weak choices for the chamber of lasers and add more money to their jackpot. That was, of course, revealed on the premiere and then offered four additional times up until the last Truth Booth. The house, of course, was down $500,000 after their blackout and if the wise side of them took the wheel, they could've gotten back to around or over the $1 million mark in their winnings if they went 11 for 11. In week 9, the group traded in Tyranny & Derrick for $150,000, and then in week 10 with strategy looming, they did the same with Cas & Joey. Analytics saw both of them as non-matches and would've made the right choice instead of giving the group a gamble that would've left them with just a half-million to play with.
♥ SHANNON, SHANNON, SHANNON: Another person who would shoulder the blame for what occurred last week is, obviously, Shannon. One of the most-documented couples in this season's house was her and Tyler, who saw each other a lot in the house, and sat next to each other six time at matchup. It was in Week 9 where the most notable instance of that relationship went down with the group at 5 beams and them counting on her to go with strategy instead of her heart. With the house wanting her to pick Joey, she instead went with Tyler and dampened the mood a little bit in spite of a good sized comeback. And it was in both the week 8 and week 9 matchups that Ryan Devlin would go off on the group for not separating from their non-matches and even telling them to STFU. Of course, this was fairly mild compared to what would happen in our final item...
♥ FALLING SHORT: When #Caroden became the house's second match, it was thought that the group had finally garnered the kind of Mojo that past seasons needed to get out of a slump and into the winners' circle. And with nine beams they were faced with the same decision the first two seasons had: make one switch, and you'll make out of the darkness. The group had to play this game with a bit of strategy going into this final week and take advantage of just making one swap to make it happen. In the last getaway challenge and despite dominating challenges, Joey went against their strategy and chose Casandra when in effect, he was supposed to follow in the house's lead to pick either Shannon or Hannah and see if they could be a match in the truth booth and unlock the code, which was what happened with the John/Jacy/Scali triangle on Season 1. And then came that last matchup when, it came down to Joey, Shannon, Hannah, Derrick, Casandra and Tyler all having to pick their partners right. If they got to 9 beams this game would've ended; lower and it's no money. And when they got to 8 and hoped they got there, it didn't work and the dream died.
AYTO STRATEGY ROOM
THE LOSS...
So, what do we make of an AYTO first we'd probably didn't want to discuss on the finale wrap? Well, we always make sure to prepare ourselves to do either a winning wrap or a losing wrap should that come to past, and here we are. There are several factors in what led the group to make the kind of history they did not want to make. That's why we have an extended stay inside our Strategy Room.
♥ As we all know, the cast is always kept in the dark of who they're paired up with when they sit at that patio listening to Ryan Devlin and watching those beams come up at each Matchup Ceremony. During the course of the season, the cast didn't know that at times during the season, eight of the perfect matches were sitting next to each other.
The only ones who did not pair up at that last Matchup were the ones who stood up next to Terrence J. on the reunion and rearranged themselves: Derrick & Casandra, Joey & Shannon and Hannah & Tyler. The first one of those three is actually the reason why they, along with Alicia & Mike and Carolina & Hayden have been given a Second Chance, in both senses of the word, to redeem themselves almost instantly in Australia. Of course, if any two of those three paired up and got the group to additional beams, then the tone of this post would've been much different.
♥ As far as Truth Booth picks go, Season 5 was on par with Season 3: they did not have as good a season in putting couples in and getting perfect matches - both seasons had just two. By comparison, Season 1 had three, Season 2 had five (three in the last four) and Season 4 had four (including the last two). There was also the introduction of the Truth Booth trade this season, and the house opted to trade in the last two couples for $300,000. Three other offers were made for the group to trade in picks, which in every instance saw them gamble and come up empty. Now, had the group decided to play this game smartly and traded in what they felt were uneasy picks and still won this game, the final prize purse would've been $1.75 million -- a nearly $80,000 payday to everyone if they took advantage of every trade, and four of these offers came after the week 2 blackout.
♥ Which pairs were paired up the most often on Season 5? Well, after the blackout, Hayden and Carolina sat at every matchup from week 3 to week 7 when both were still in the house, and obviously the rest of the season after they were the 2nd truth booth pair in week 8. That's eight weeks those two were paired up, which ranks 2nd to Cameron & Mikala from last season who sat at every matchup, a result of being a truth booth match in week 3 last year. Who came in second? Tyler and Shannon, who paired up six times including ignoring house strategy in Week 9 where the house could've easily gotten up to 10 beams or, better yet, closed the deal.
• WEEK 1 (2/Min): Kam/Edward, Taylor/Tyler, Kari/Mike, Casandra/Jaylan, Carolina/Joey, Tyranny /Osvaldo, Gianna/Ozzy, Hannah/Michael, Alicia/Andre, Kathryn/Derrick, Shannon/Hayden
• WEEK 2 (0/▼2): Osvaldo/Kari, Ozzy/Kathryn, Jaylan/Kam, Edward/Shannon, Derrick/Alicia, Hayden/Taylor, Andre/Hannah, Michael/Gianna, Joey/Carolina (2), Mike/Casandra, Tyler/Tyranny
• WEEK 3 (4/▲2): Kathryn/Joey, Tyranny/Osvaldo (2), Hannah/Derrick, Casandra/Jaylan (2), Kam/Edward (2), Shannon/Tyler, Carolina/Hayden, Gianna/Ozzy, Alicia/Mike, Taylor/Michael, Kari/Andre
• WEEK 4 (4/===): Mike/Kam, Ozzy/Hannah, Osvaldo/Taylor, Andre/Casandra, Edward/Alicia, Joey/Kathryn (2), Derrick/Gianna, Tyler/Shannon (2), Michael/Kari, Hayden/Carolina (2), Jaylan/Tyranny
• WEEK 5 (4/===): Kam/Edward, Hannah/Ozzy (2), Carolina/Hayden (3), Alicia/Mike (2), Tyranny/Derrick, Taylor/Andre, Casandra/Jaylan (3), Kari/Michael (2), Kathryn/Joey (3), Gianna /Osvaldo, Shannon/Tyler (3)
• WEEK 6 (4/===): Kam/Edward, Joey/Kathryn (4), Andre/Taylor (2), Michael/Kari (3), Tyler/Shannon (4), Mike/Alicia (3), Tyranny/Derrick (2), Carolina/Hayden (4), Gianna/Osvaldo (2), Jaylan/Hannah, Casandra/Ozzy
• WEEK 7 (4/===): Kam/Edward, Casandra/Andre (2), Alicia/Ozzy, Shannon/Tyler (5), Taylor/Osvaldo (2), Kari/Derrick, Kathryn/Joey (5), Tyranny/Jaylan (2), Hannah/Michael (1), Gianna/Mike, Carolina/Hayden (5)
• WEEK 8 (5/▲1): Kam/Edward, Carolina/Hayden*, Derrick/Shannon, Mike/Kari, Andre/Gianna, Tyler/Hannah, Osvaldo/Taylor (3), Ozzy/Alicia (2), Jaylan/Tyranny (3), Joey/Casandra, Michael/Kathryn
• WEEK 9 (9/▲4): Kam/Edward, Carolina/Hayden*, Kari/Michael (4), Alicia/Mike (4), Ozzy/Gianna (3), Tyranny/Jaylan (4), Shannon/Tyler (6), Hannah/Joey, Casandra/Derrick, Taylor/Osvaldo (4), Kathryn/Andre
• WEEK 10 (8/▼2): Kam/Eddie, Carolina/Hayden*, Alicia/Mike*, Gianna/Ozzy, Kari/Michael, Kathryn/Andre, Taylor/Osvaldo, Tyranny/Jaylan, Hannah/Joey (2), Tyler/Casandra, Derrick/Shannon
FINAL ORDER
Kam/Eddie
Carolina/Hayden*
Alicia/Mike*
Gianna/Ozzy
Kari/Michael
Kathryn/Andre
Taylor/Osvaldo
Tyranny/Jaylan
Casandra/Derrick*
Hannah/Tyler
Shannon/Joey
KEY: Italics: Final Matches Bold: Truth Booth Match
Asterisk: appearing on Second Chances
To put the final order in context for you... If things would've gone by plan, then we would've presented this recap a week earlier or better yet, one of the episodes from this season would've been a two-parter and the cast would've done the same trick the Season 1 cast did: winning their money in nine tries. This would've been a fantastic win for the group given how they were behind in the count much of the season and relied on Derrick to carry them to Fantasyland. In that week 9 matchup, they got nine beams and Shannon had that screw-up in picking Tyler over Joey and Hannah going with Tyler. That, of course, is the difference.
BRANDON'S VIEW
One person who was keenly interested in watching the finale. and was on that side of wanting Season 5 lose, was Brandon from Season 2, who like the twenty others who came to Puerto Rico, felt the burden of having to follow up the enormously successful first season. Obviously, he was one-half of the season's biggest story and highest-profile romance in him and 11th girl Christina, who were one of the many couples we've seen get sent into the Truth Booth, returned a No-Match and yet stay together long after the fact...something which we saw in many of the Season 5 couples (and other couples over the show's run), which led to their demise and the poll result we'll have in a little bit. And it's best that we don't want to jinx him for what happened there in Mexico (though it's preferred by this site to use smile shots where possible).
The day after the finale, Brandon tweeted the following...
And shortly after, he sent me via direct message some additional thoughts...Was good to see a losing AYTO season. Would've been a bad look having 5 seasons winning in a row.— Brandon Tindel (@Tindel10) March 16, 2017
"Man it was awesome watching a season actually struggling legitimately. Another thing I liked was how them being sooooo promiscuous led to their demise. One thing I notice was that most seasons were way less and it paid off. As far as second chances they could have picked way better teams."
To put what happened on Brandon's season in context to Season 5, both them and Season 2 had more cast members than the usual number of 20. His season had, of course, 21 cast members with two girls being a double match to one of the guys (which turned out to be Christina and Tyler being that double match with Layton), and there were 22 on this season. His cast had five Truth Booth perfect matches compared to two on Season 5, and both casts had to make one right switch at the last matchup to win after getting to within two of the magic number... obviously Season 2 pulled it out and had only 10 lights to deal with instead of 11 this time around. And as in seasons that came after that original rendezvous, there are couples who were formed by castmates on that season who are still together today, though just not a perfect match (in Season 2's case, it's Curtis and Jenni).
And maybe, Brandon might have a point on whether some matches on Second Chances could've been swapped for better ones. After all, he & Briana were, not just Rivals on the last Challenge, but also a Perfect Match as well, and had they been chosen to go down to Australia this could've been their chance at a Second Chance in another sense given the circumstances of what happened last year. Dre & Simone from Season 1, Julia & Cam from last year and Joey & Shannon of this past season might be good examples of would-be matches to get another shot, but as we all know everything happens for a reason with many of the alumni now going on to do bigger and better things.
By the way, as I did write on here before, to me actions on a TV show won't change how I perceive cast members in real life, and will always be supportive of those who I support regardless of whatever we see on TV. In essence, I fulfilled a promise I made earlier in this cycle in that this is the first time that I had talked to a cast member for this site. And though I had planned on doing a mini Q&A for that unique veteran's view of watching this show from the standpoint of being just a viewer, just getting some additional thoughts from him instead of a chat will just suffice. And of course, thanks to Brandon for his extra thoughts.
ENDGAME
AYTO SEASON 5: EPILOGUE
AYTO SEASON 5: EPILOGUE
The aftermath of this knockout punch to the gut the cast had to go through has seen a lot since about 10PM Eastern last Wednesday. And take a few breaths before reading this... this will take a while.
First, there are the relationships that have emerged out of this season that would've been more golden had all the pieces fell into the right order. Here now, some of their messages on social networks in the wake of their loss.
♥ GIANNA & HAYDEN
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| IG @GiannaHammer |
So much talk in the air, but all anyone needs to know is that this guy right here is the most AMAZING man in the entire world and will have my heart till I die. I'm not a perfect human being but if someone asks, this guy is my PERFECT match. Every day I'm learning to be a better version of myself and @hayden.parker.weaver has been there every step of the way. He brings out the best in me because when I'm with him I strive to be the best ME I can be because he deserves nothing less. I'm young, I still have a lot of work to do, but there's no doubt in my mind that he will be there for me till the very end and there's nothing else in the world I could ask for💜"
• @Hayden.Parker.Weaver/IG: "There's been nothing traditional about this. We didn't expect this to happen. Nobody did. But we grew on each other and grew with each other. Into best friends. Then into lovers. Then into nothing. That feeling of nothing is what got us to today. Once it was taken away, losing my best friend, made me realize how bad I wanted and needed this more than anything in my life. It wasn't easy, we hurt others and each other along the way. Nobody will ever completely understand and some will disagree. But it was you Gianna Rose. It was always you. You are the one for me. We've grown together, we've loved together, we've hurt together. We've given each other the best of times and the worst of times, but we've always found a way. We've created a lifetime of memories in less than a year, and we've still got a lifetime more to create. We aren't going to perfect this overnight, but there is nothing I will try to perfect harder in life than this. So here we go, let's give the world our story, the real story, our love story. I love you Gianna Rose, I'm so happy to finally show you off to the world 🌹"
♥ TAYLOR & ANDRE
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| IG @Taylor.Selfridge |
♥ SHANNON & TYLER
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| IG/@TyOBrien |
• @TyOBrien/IG: So I did a tv show (that I had no business being on) without watching any episodes previous to it. After losing half a million dollars almost immediately on it, I decided to attempt to drink it off. I'll never forget waking up that next morning completely lost/confused and quickly becoming aware that I made myself the main target for the majority of the drama and bullshit. At one point I was extremely sick and couldn't make soup with a girl ( @kathrynpalmerr 😜) , then sleep the rest of the day without it being a huge problem. Through the whole process, there was one person who always had my back; even when I didn't deserve it. I learned a lot on the show but one crucial thing I learned when I was young is that one of the rarest things in life is finding someone who's unconditionally there for you. Whether it's family, a girlfriend/boyfriend, or a friend, it's truly a blessing. I didn't expect it at all but I found someone like that there and I just want to express how appreciative I am for you. Thank you for being you @shannonmaeduffy #RideOrDie
♥ CASANDRA & MIKE
• @_mikecerasani_/IG: "I am the happiest man in the world when I look at you not just because you're beautiful but because everything I have ever wanted is standing right in front of me it has been the greatest two months of my entire life ever since you landed that plane to come visit me in Ny and we fell so hard for each other you wound up pushing your flight back 4 times because we couldn't stand the fact we would be without each other i couldn't ask for someone better someone who cares about my family as much as you do I can't imagine my life without you you are my everything God has blessed me I love you #mystinkybaby"
♥ HANNAH & OZZY
• @itshannahfugazzi/IG: "I'm choosing to post this to answer any questions as to why I continually went back to Ozzy during the show. What you guys didn't see was all the behind the scenes of Ozzy telling me that he wants to be with me after the show and things will be different and that everything he was doing like treating me so HORRIBLE.. was for "tv." This video was taken a week after the show when Ozzy flew me out to see him in LA. I stayed two amazing weeks with him and believed every word he said.. unfortunately. As soon as I got back home, things took a turn for the worse and Ozzy's true colors showed through. Ozzy went back to his old ways that he swore he wouldn't continue outside the house. He stopped communication with me, started playing with my emotions and was back to being the player he aspired to rise above outside the house. I put my whole heart out and gave Ozzy the benefit of the doubt.. time and time again to see what it'd be like outside the house.. even after all he did to me inside the house. And he broke my heart. So for all the stories you have heard or will hear in the future, this is what happened. I was naive enough to believe what we had was real and I blame myself.. but thank you Ozzy. Thank you for showing me what I don't want. And for making me appreciate all the right kind of love I have in my life. "Sometimes you just have to accept the apology you never received." "
• @ozzymm11/IG: "We did. We dated after the show and I wasn't going to lower myself to this but I think enough is enough and I need to speak for myself. I flew Hannah out three days after we came back from the DR because we literally couldn't be away from each other, but the time we spent wasn't always "amazing".. we fought, a lot. I tried to understand a lot of things and I gave this relationship 110%. The first weekend Hannah spent with me, we went out with a lot of my friends.. I had to leave her with them and go back to Dre's car to find his ID which he had forgotten... when I got back Hannah was nowhere to be found.. when she finally picked up the phone after a good hour of looking for her she told me she had gone to another club to see the manager.. who she "knew" from her last time in LA.. she said nothing happened after we argued for a good hour and she could show me the text conversation with him if I wanted, I said yeah, and when she showed me the phone, the whole conversation was deleted... we talked, I was going to fly her back that next day but she apologized and we moved on. A couple days after I got a Snapchat from Katherine and when I opened it, next to Hannah, she started freaking out and broke up with me. It's not like I was being sketchy or hiding anything.. she was right there.. we made up and everything was fine.. this whole time she kept threatening me with the fact that Joey had been texting her saying he missed her and shit.. okay.. When she flew back, I took a day to gather my thoughts.. get back to my life, I went out with Dre and Taylor in LA, and yes we did not talk that day, but hey, it takes two to tango. She broke up with me the next day.. I blocked all contact with her and we didn't speak for a while.. Taylor then told me Hannah overreacted and felt bad and wanted to "talk".. so I talked to her and we fixed things.. while we broke up she did her and I did me... I then started hearing from several people how Hannah and Joey had hooked up the last day we spent at the DR while her and I were together.. when I confronted Joey he said he was too drunk to remember and when I asked Hannah, she broke up with me. Believe what y'all want, but stay woke ✌🏽"
♥ KAM & EDDIE
• @iamkamiam_/IG: "My #PerfectMatch ... i wish I could say that you knew my worth...💔 I wish things would've turned out differently. I know what I had was real. We talked a few days ago and you told me you made a mistake taking me for granted and it's one of your biggest regrets... I do forgive you and I hope you truly learned from all this. Despite all that happened I know why we are a match.... #LinkInBio for full story ! #AYTO #mtv #Keddy"
♥ KARI & MICHAEL
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| @Kari.Kowalski/@MikeHalpern92 |
• @mikehalpern92/IG: "The matchmaking process can be simple sometimes, I asked for a smart, sweet and somewhat hardheaded girl.. and oh boy... did I get it! I love you kari, couldn't be more flattered the matchmakers thought of me when interviewing you. #ayto #mtv #perfectmatch @kari.kowalski"
♥ TYRANNY & OSVALDO
•
♥ JOEY & CASANDRA
• @joey_amoia/IG: "One of the biggest things I've learned from this experience is that you should find someone who makes you smile like this. We may have not won the money but I've learned more than anything money could ever buy me! It's been one hell of a ride and I wanna give a shout out to my entire cast for being some of the craziest mother fuckers I've ever met besides myself 🙌"
Next, there's the YouTube part of this epilogue. And, we'll let the girls take over the explaining in this section, starting with Carolina, and then Kam.
CAROLINA
KAM
For how two of the guys marked their loss, a meeting with a champ. That after the particulars and some second chances...
▪ ▪ ▪
POLLS @DC408Dxtr
Who do you think is at fault for the
Season 5 cast losing the $800k?
● SHANNON 26%
● NO MATCH COUPLES 30%
● THE ENTIRE HOUSE 44%
OUT OF 61 VOTES
think Darrell will make it to the end?
● YES, He's Still a Force 75%
● NO, He's Past His Prime 25%
OUT OF 31 VOTES
FANTASY TRAX
►#AYTO
Italics denote perfect match
■ WEEKLY POINT SCORERS
1. CASANDRA: 50 Points
2. JOEY: 20 Points
3. TYRANNY: 15 Points
T-4. CAROLINA and SHANNON: 10 Points each
T-6. Five players tied with 5 Points each
■ FINAL POINTS STANDINGS
1. CAROLINA: 225 Points
2. ALICIA: 220 Points
3. HAYDEN: 205 Points
4. HANNAH: 195 Points
T-5. ANDRE: 190 Points
T-5. EDWARD: 190 Points
7. OZZY: 175 Points
8. JOEY: 170 Points
9. ANDRE: 155 Points
10. KAM: 125 Points
■ THE WEEK'S NOTABLES
♥ CASANDRA: Casandra is the finale week's top scorer in netting 50 overall points: 15 for being chose by Joey to go on the date, 15 for hooking up in the pool while on their date, and 20 for them going into the truth booth.
♥ JOEY: Joey is the top male scorer in earning 20 points, which includes the aforementioned 15 pool hook-up and 20 truth booth points. He gets 5 points for winning the challenge in guilping fishguts, but is deducted -20 points for going against strategy in choosing Casandra.
♥ Crying Points: During the finale, four girls earned crying points both before and after the final result occured: Shannon earns 10 crying points for crying twice when she received Derrick's Jesus necklace and after the group lost; Carolina and Kari each earn 5 points for crying when they lost the money, and Hannah gets 5 after finding out about Ozzy & Kathryn's night in the Boom Boom Room.
♥ Other Notables: In reference to that last item, Ozzy & Kathryn get 5 points for hooking up in the BBR, while Derrick & Tyranny receive 5 & 15 points respectively for earning the other getaway challenge points. And Carolina gets 5 for expressing homesickness in reference to her family.
►#DCChallenge
■ WEEKLY POINT SCORERS
1. CORY: 45 Points
2. KAILAH: 40 Points
T-3. Three players tied at 35 points each
T-6. Three players tied at 20 points each
9. TONY: 15 Points
10. SYLVIA: 10 Points
■ TOP 10 TOTAL SCORERS
1. SYLVIA: 195 Points
2. KAILAH: 180 Points
3. NELSON: 160 Points
4. CORY: 155 Points
5. ASHLEY M.: 145 Points
6. JENNA: 140 Points
T-7. HUNTER and SHANE: 135 Points each
T-9. AMANDA and NICOLE: 120 Points each
■ THE WEEK'S NOTABLES
● LAUREL: Laurel is the week's top scorer with 45 overall points which, in addition to the champions points noted below, gets 10 for going first with Bananas (he also earns those 10 to go along with those 20 winning points), and gets 15 for nudity in the pool.
● Champions: As the Champions won the week's challenge, each member of that team earns 20 points for winning a regular challenge. Camila and Ashley K. each earn 15 points for pool nudity as well.
● Notables: Along with his related champions points, Zach and Jenna each earn 15 crying points: him for crying in mentioning Knight in elimination, and her crying three times. By virtue of her 12th career elimination win, Cara Maria earns 10 points for winning in the Fortress, as does Darrell. And Amanda & Nelson each earn 10 points for his gamble to go in first.
▪ ▪ ▪
#DCExtraTime
SECOND CHANCES - TRIFECTA EDITION
Well, as AYTO Second Chances debuts on Wednesday, there have been instances in the course of this hectic past week where two couples who have gotten together and then split up have now been spotted yet again. We'd like to share with you those now to kick off ExtraTime.
♥ STEPHEN & JULIA
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| IG @StephenJohnII |
But through a post on Instagram posted last week, last week's AYTO Pulse ExtraTime subject revealed some startling news about now giving Julia another chance. Here's his caption...
"🌹 Sometimes I wish I could go back to this moment. A lot has happened between now and then. A lot that I regret. I have made many mistakes. I want to tell you that I'm sorry Julia. I wasn't the best person to you all the time. There was many lessons learned over the past couple months. I missed you everyday we were apart. I thought about the decisions I made and how they hurt you. I know it may not seem that way but it's the truth. I lost and missed my best friend and partner in crime. It has been a roller coaster ride since day 1. But I can honestly say I'm glad to have been on it with you... it's time to get off now though. You have ever reason not to forgive me or take me back but I'm here to ask you to forgive me because I love you with all I have. I don't want to live without ya and I'm not going anywhere. I have a lot to prove but I'll spend an eternity doing it because it's worth it. I need you Jul. Your love is worth it... I'm truly sorry, you don't know how lovely you are 🌹#DejaVu" - @stephenjohnii (link)
And over the weekend, this newly reconciled couple road-tripped their way from California to Texas to join hundreds of thousands for the annual gathering at the intersection of music and pop culture: the South By Southwest Festival in Austin. MTV hosted its annual Woodies Awards and concert there the night after the AYTO finale, and Stephen & Julia were among those in the throngs of those who came to the Texas state capital to see the many concerts, keynote speakers and dozens of conferences that took place during those ten days that wrapped up over the weekend. Rick Ross, Wale, Desiigner, D.R.A.M., Lil Yachty and Jidenna performed on the Woodies stage, while The Chainsmokers added Woodie of the Year to their growing collection of accolades.
They were joined for the festivities by Austin residents Madison from RW Skeletons and Adam of AYTO Second Chances, who just recently moved from the nation's capital down to Texas. The Hulk worked nearly non-stop for most of this past week at one of the many events in town and tweeted afterwards, "I just finished working over 100 hours this week and 36 hours over the last 2 days. I can honestly say I've never been this tired in my life."
They were joined for the festivities by Austin residents Madison from RW Skeletons and Adam of AYTO Second Chances, who just recently moved from the nation's capital down to Texas. The Hulk worked nearly non-stop for most of this past week at one of the many events in town and tweeted afterwards, "I just finished working over 100 hours this week and 36 hours over the last 2 days. I can honestly say I've never been this tired in my life."
● CARA MARIA & ABRAM (!)
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| IG @AbramGBoise |
Well, despite what happened there in Turkey, Cara still calls Montana home and did not move back to New England, and of course Abram is a native of that state and still calls it home in pursuing those creative ventures he's carved a niche for himself. We have no idea what is going on with them even today after what happened last year and with her just winning her 12th career elimination win - and even going on a Twitter rant and block-fest regarding eligibility among those who join The Challenge when they've not had a prior Real World season to star on. But last week came another chapter in this ongoing on-again, off-again affair Cara & Abe have: a photo shoot where the two became real-life DC comic book villains and got to channel those characters we saw in last year's movie Suicide Squad. They posted pics at their Instagram hubs (her and him) that might suggest that if they aren't gonna try again to fall in love, maybe they can keep things civil... and fun too.
A CHAMPION, A BLOODLINE, TWO LOSERS & A DISS TRACK
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| IG @RealJohnnyBananas |
For the latest in his never-ending adventures, last week Johnny Bananas ventured down to South Florida and to West Palm Beach for Spring Break activities and last Tuesday MTV's SnapChat and Instagram Stories channels gave their accounts to him to snap live stories from the beach and all around that sultry part of this country. This was also the first time that Bananas met up his Bloodlines partner, Vince, in a while and after the Vinny Pig posted on Instagram his recent engagement. Johnny even had a big dinner at the local Hooters restaurant in town too.
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| IG @MikeHalpern92 |
And the night after that loss seen across this country of ours, Ty, Mike, Bananas and Vince spent a night together at The Palm Shop Lounge in WPB for one of those parties held during Spring Break last week. Okay, so it's not one of those shops like what we see on Pawn Stars, but the guys met up with fans and partied with those in town in the Treasure Coast for Spring Break, St. Patrick's Day and the NCAA Tournament. Tyler captioned, "One hell of a night with these savages #TooMuchSauce." Michael added, "(On phone with tyler) Me- black shirts with sleeves rolled up tonight.. Tyler- say no more!" And in his SnapChat pic, Bananas took a cue from Maury Povich and coined, "They are NOT the ones!!!"
And lastly, we couldn't complete this special WRAP without something fun. Below is Derrick doing a track he did with help from fellow AYTO alum and Second Chances cast member Tori called, "Are You Team Chocolate?"
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Well as we wrap up this week's posts, we here at DCBLOG can, at last, finally take an opportunity to catch our breath and get some rest after bringing you SIX posts in the course of four days, starting with our preview of AYTO Second Chances on St. Patrick's Day, then Stranded and The Challenge on Saturday, the AYTO Season 5 finale on Sunday and now, this expanded WRAP. And along the way, we reached the 400 posts mark here on this site.
Understandably, there is so much more for fellow webcasts to discuss and to dissect, and here's where you can find them...
● First, last week AfterBuzz TV was joined by several guests for their Challenge/AYTO coverage: on Wednesday the AYTO Finale Wrap and hosts Nicolette Gaona, Lem Gonsalves and Nino Llanera welcomed Alicia, Joey, Michael and Osvaldo to discuss that loss and the reunion. And the previous night, Dario and Ashley K. rejoined the Challenge panel of Jenna Bussiere, Paulina Aguilar and Michael Rippe to discuss her loss and Ep. 7. Check out both those podcasts at AfterBuzzTV.com.
● Just after the AYTO finale, Michael joined the Truth Booth Podcast as he discussed his time on the show, the crushing loss, and a profession he aspires to follow in the footsteps of one JJ from Season 1. Listen to that podcast here, plus Candy Dish's interviews with Devin, Cory, Sarah & Susie of The Brain Candy Podcast and Stephen from AYTO S4.
● Check out Rob Has A Podcast with Brian Cohen (@CohenBrian_), Ali Lasher (@LashTweets) and Adam Bungiovanni (@AdamBongo) as they discuss The Challenge and AYTO. On that Challenge RHAP, Ali and Brian discussed what happened in Thailand, then she and Adam are joined by Angela Bloom (@angpalaggi) to dissect the AYTO finale and reunion. And check out RobHasAWebsite.com for extensive coverage of the new Survivor season and all things reality TV.
● On Friday, Andrew Kirk (@CSUGradAKirk) was rejoined by Ashley M. on his Big Time Reality TV series as they discussed what has been going on in The Challenge house so far, plus got deep into why she was mad at Hunter last week - including some exclusive tea, as they say. Check out that webcast here, plus most of his past shows on YouTube, Blog Talk Radio and Reality Radio. And check out Challenge recaps by Ace Nichols (@AceNichols33) on her YT channel too.
● And for those fans of Stranded with a Million Dollars, last week Alex talked to the broad reality TV podcast, Bring Me Your Torch, as they discussed the show up to last week and his time in Fiji. Check out that podcast here, plus discussions of all things reality TV at BringMeYourTorch.com.
That's is how we see it from this very eventful week in the MTV Trifecta...thank you for checking us out. And until we talk on DCNOW tomorrow and then back here Friday, see you then and enjoy your week ahead. And also, be safe out there too.
- I AM DC
